Switching circuitry for reconfigurable arrays of sensor elements

Abstract

A device comprising an array of sensors that are reconfigurable by means of a switching network. The sensors may be optical, thermal or pressure sensors or ultrasonic transducers. More specifically, the device comprises: a multiplicity of sensor elements; a plurality of bus lines; a set of access switches for selectively connecting a set of the sensor elements in a row to a bus line, one of the access switches being connected to a first sensor element; a multiplicity of sets of matrix switches, each of the sets of matrix switches selectively connecting a respective sensor element of the multiplicity of sensor elements to a respective set of adjacent sensor elements, one of the matrix switches being connected to the first sensor element and to a second sensor element that is not a member of the set of sensor elements; and control circuitry that controls the access switches and the matrix switches in accordance with a selected switching configuration such that the first sensor element is connected to the bus line via said one access switch, while at the same time the second sensor element is connected to said one access switch via said one matrix switch.

Description

RELATED PATENT APPLICATION [0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 383,990 filed on Mar. 6, 2003 and entitled “Mosaic Arrays Using Micromachined Ultrasound Transducers”.STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT [0002] The United States Government may have certain rights in this invention pursuant to U.S. Government Contract Number DAMD17-02-1-0181 awarded by the U.S. Army.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] This invention generally relates to reconfigurable arrays of sensors (e.g., optical, thermal, pressure, ultrasonic). In particular, the invention relates to reconfigurable micromachined ultrasonic transducer (MUT) arrays. One specific application for MUTs is in medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging systems. Another specific example is for non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of materials, such as castings, forgings, or pipelines. [0004] Conventional ultrasound imaging systems comprise an a...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

It may not be possible to create larger cells that still perform well in terms of frequency response and sensitivity desired.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to produce electronics that would allow individual control over such small cells.

While in terms of the acoustical performance of the array as a whole, the small cell size is excellent and leads to great flexibility, control is limited to larger structures.

However, subelements comprise connected cells that are not switchably disconnectable and thus cannot be reconfigured.

Reconfigurable ultrasound arrays require a complex switching network that may be difficult or impossible to implement with currently available electronics.

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